Having the right Facebook cover photo is important for creating a good first impression on your profile. However, you may have noticed that your carefully chosen cover photo appears cropped or zoomed in when viewed on mobile devices. This can be frustrating if important elements like text or logos get cut off in the mobile view. Here are some reasons why your Facebook cover photo may not fit properly on mobile, and tips to fix it.
The Aspect Ratio Difference Between Desktop and Mobile
The main reason your Facebook cover photo appears cropped on mobile is due to the difference in aspect ratio between desktop and mobile screens.
On desktop, Facebook cover photos have an 851 x 315 pixel size, with an aspect ratio of 2.7:1. This elongated horizontal rectangle format allows for wide landscape images to fill the banner space on a computer screen.
However, on mobile devices which have more portrait oriented screens, the cover photo area is smaller and square. The mobile cover photo size is 640 x 360 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 1.78:1.
This change from a wide desktop ratio to a square mobile ratio means that either the left/right or top/bottom edges of your photo will get cropped in order to fit the mobile view. Parts of your image that aligned well on desktop may not fit into the more constrained space on mobile.
Tips for Making Your Cover Photo Mobile-Friendly
Here are some tips to ensure your Facebook cover photo looks good on both desktop and mobile:
- Use a square cropped image instead of a full widescreen image. A 1:1 aspect ratio 1000 x 1000 pixel image will fit mobile without needing to crop the edges.
- Position key elements like text/logos near the center and avoid the far left, right, top or bottom edges. The center 600 x 360 pixel area is the image part guaranteed to show up on all screens.
- Try multiple cropped variations of your photo to test what looks best on mobile and desktop.
- Use an online mockup tool like the Facebook Cover Template Creator to preview how your photo will look once uploaded.
- Check the mobile view after uploading your cover photo to ensure important parts are not cropped.
- Consider a simpler design with larger text and icons that is legible at the smaller mobile size.
Setting Separate Mobile and Desktop Cover Photos
In 2017, Facebook introduced the ability to set different cover photos for mobile and desktop views. This allows you to customize the images for each platform’s size.
To set separate mobile and desktop cover photos:
- Go to your Facebook Page on desktop.
- Click “Update Cover Photo” below your current cover image.
- Select “Use Different Cover Photos for Mobile and Desktop”
- Choose or upload a photo for desktop. Position and adjust the cropping as desired.
- Choose or upload a different photo for mobile. Position and adjust this photo.
- Click “Save Changes” to save your customized mobile and desktop covers.
Setting two separate photos allows you to tailor the images to each format. For example, you can have a panoramic landscape photo for desktop, and a square close-up image for mobile. This provides more flexibility but requires uploading two photos.
Using Photo Editing Software
If you want to modify an existing photo to better fit mobile and desktop, you can use photo editing tools like Photoshop, GIMP and others to crop and reformat images.
Some things you can try:
- Manually crop the photo to a square 1:1 aspect ratio.
- Strategically crop to highlight key focal points.
- Resize the image to fit mobile dimensions (640 x 360 pixels).
- Add ideal margins on text or logos to center them in the mobile view.
- Save edited versions for desktop and mobile.
Photo editing provides fine-tuned control but requires image editing expertise. Basic cropping and resizing can usually be done on most software or apps.
Using Online Mockup Tools
To simplify previewing how your Facebook cover photo will look on desktop and mobile, you can use free online mockup tools and templates.
These tools allow you to upload your custom image and position it over a mock Facebook profile template. You can move and resize the image to fit the desktop and mobile formats shown.
Some popular cover photo mockup tools include:
- Facebook Cover Template Creator – Lets you drag and resize cover templates for Timeline and Page profiles. Has mobile and desktop views.
- FBcoverup – Provides a mock Facebook profile template to test cover photos. Can customize for Timeline, Page or Group.
- Mellowpx Facebook Cover Maker – Features guides and size templates for Timeline and Pages. Has mobile preview.
These mockups are handy for fine-tuning the positioning and scale of your cover photo before officially uploading to Facebook. They allow quick iterations to optimize the image for all screens.
Why Does Facebook Use Different Cover Photo Sizes?
Facebook utilizes different cover photo sizes for desktop and mobile for a few key reasons:
- Screen orientation – Desktop screens are wider and allow for horizontal landscape photos. Mobile screens are taller and better suited to vertical Portrait images.
- Usage context – People browsing on mobile are often on-the-go and have different needs than someone sitting at a desktop. Cover photos can highlight different details for each case.
- Viewing distance – A mobile device is generally held much closer to a person’s eyes than a desktop screen, so image content may need to be larger and simpler.
- Bandwidth considerations – Scaling down large desktop images to fit mobile screens also reduces file size and bandwidth usage on mobile data.
By creating mobile-optimized cover photos, you can deliver an ideal experience to users however they access Facebook – on both desktop and mobile devices.
Troubleshooting Tips for Misaligned Cover Photos
Sometimes even if you upload a properly sized cover photo, it may appear misaligned, zoomed in, or incorrectly cropped on mobile or desktop.
Here are some troubleshooting tips if your uploaded Facebook cover photo appears distorted:
- Double check the photo file dimensions match Facebook’s recommended sizes – 851×315 pixels for desktop, 640×360 for mobile.
- Clear browser caches and retry loading Facebook to refresh the images.
- Try uploading your photo from a different device or web browser.
- Remove any excessive text or elements around the edges that may not fit certain screens.
- Reposition your photo to focus the key subject in the safe center area.
- Confirm your image’s aspect ratio is not being skewed or stretched upon upload.
Following Facebook’s size guidelines closely generally prevents distortion. But caching issues can sometimes disrupt the rendering. Retrying the upload or modifying the photo often helps in these cases.
Conclusion
The main reason Facebook cover photos appear cropped or zoomed on mobile is the difference in aspect ratios between desktop and mobile screens. Desktop uses a wide 2.7:1 ratio while mobile is a square 1:1 format. Parts of your photo can get cut off when converting between these sizes.
To create a cover photo that looks great on both platforms, follow Facebook’s recommendations for desktop and mobile sizes. Position important elements near the center. Consider customizing separate photos for each device. And preview your images using mockup tools before uploading to Facebook.
With some strategic planning and testing, you can display an engaging, professionally designed cover photo that will help make a fantastic first impression across all devices.